Apparatus for the continuous production of ingots.



M. DOUTEUR. v APPARATUS FOR THE GONTINUOUS'PBODUGTIQN 0F IHGrOTS.

APPLICATION FILED slums, 190s.

Patented Dec.2 8, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' M. DOUTEUR. APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF INGOTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1908.

Patented D0.28,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor-.-

, 1 UNITED srrATEs PATENT OFFICE.

, Harman DOUTEUR, or EKATERINOSLAF, RUSSIA.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, MATHIEU DOUTEUR, a

subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Ekaterinoslaf, Russia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Continuous Production of Ingots, of which the following is a specification. Certain. processes of manufacturing steel ingots are known, in which a continuous ingot is cast in one piece by causing steel to continuously circulate in an ingot mold cooled to solidify the steel, so that the latter can be cut into ingots of the desired length as it passes out of the mold. 7

It has not hitherto been possible to adopt .these processes in practice, owing to the-difficulties attending them more particularly with regard to the considerable danger of the operation. In all these processes, whether the ingot is drawn through the mold in a horizontal or a vertical direction, the mass of steel in the mold supports the entire weight of the melted charge in the casting vessel. If, therefore, the ingot is insufficiently congealed or cooled during its with- I drawal, and breaks, the liquid core escapes from the mold and is followed by the whole of the melted steel in the vessel. This gives rise to dangerous dis ersals of molten metal, and may cause terrib e explosions if the said metal comes into contact with water. Moreover, apart from this important drawback, the said processes are attended with a simi -lar risk at the moment of cutting the continuous ingot into sections. It frequently occurs thatat the momentat. which the ingot passes under the cutting apparatus the core is not completely solidified, so that when the cut is made a certain quantity of metal runs out, and causes the s'hape of the ingot to be spoiled, or its' quality to be seriously. de-

' teriorated. The said processes are also attended'with the continuous risk'arisingjfrom the necessity of cooling the mold with water. The mold used consists generally of a mass of metal inclosing a water-chamberor waterconduit. IfIfor any reason the cooling is insu'iiicient there is the risk that the insuf ficiently cooled ingot ,willbreakat the mo ment of withdrawal, 'fiivinglise ito thedispersalofmetal or to t e disadvantagesmen tioned with "reference to thefcuttin of the ingot. Moreover, fiftliemold shou d crack the flow of water on'the ingot or molten steel ma giveiri'se tofdangerous explosions,

The 0 'je'ct of the present-invention i's'to I nrraita'rus iron. THE coiv'rINUoUs rnonucrrlon or INGo'rs.

Specification'of Letters Patent. P t nted Dec. 28, 1909.. Application filed September 9, 1908, Serial No. 452,325. l

obviate these disadvantages and to enable the continuous production of ingots to be carried out in a practical manner, free from danger.

'molten steel mass inthe casting vessel, and

in placing the latter in communication with the ingot mold by means of an ascending conduit into which molten steel is forced by air or gas pressure actin on the contents of the casting vessel. With this arrangement the mold can be rapidly isolated from the casting vessel in case of danger or other necessity, for example by opening a cock or valve, without operating closing or like devices arranged in the conduit between the mold and casting vessel, such devices being liable to be inoperative when required, owing to their exposure to the action of molten steel. 1

To obviate the vantages arising from the cutting of imperfectly solidified ingots, the invention utilizes for the operation in question a hammer having a continuously cooled, hollow, cutting member or part, which effects a supplementary cooling of the steel, when it enabove mentioned disadingot is insufiiciently cooled, andaccidents or lossare'thu's avoidedg The annexed"drawing illustrates byi way of example a construction embodying the invention; Fi re 1 is an elevationofplant for the manu a'cturela'nd automatic manip} ulation of ingots, Fig. 2is .a verticaliseetion of the casting" apparatus one larger scale.

F g-,3 l rate en herf rmot coas -mice.

ti'on of the ingot'inold. Fig; 4 viS. a corre sponding cross section. 'Fig.'"5 isa se :|.rate

sectional view of the cutting member of the hammer used for cutting the ingots.

In the drawings 1 represents a vessel which receives the molten metal and has at the top a hinged cover 2, normally held down by a lever 3, with a safety weight and a link 4. The vessel 1 is provided with a conduit 5 for sucking off the gases, and with a duct 6 having a view hole. To the duct 6 is joined a compressed air pipe 7 provided with a cock 8 and valve 9 for regulating the pressure. The vessel 1 has gates 10 and 11, and the gate 11 leads to an ascendin conduit 12 provided at its lower part wit an orifice 13 for cleansin purposes. The conduit '12 leads to a kin of dam 14 in'a regulating and observation chamber 15 having a cover 16 and'view hole 17; To the chamber 15 is connected a water cooled ingot mold 18', into which water is introduced by means of a conduit 19, the said water being dischar ed through a conduit 20 opposite the con uit 19. The ingot mold 18 preferably has in series with it a hollow cast ingot mold 21 rovided with perforations 22. Beyond the ingot mold 21 are placed two cylinders 23 of the type of those used in the manufacture of laminated iron. The axle of one of these cylinders actuates a worm gear 24 connected to an out-put indicator of any suitable t pe. Beyond the cylinders 23 there is a rop hammer, the hollow cutting member 25 of which is continuously cooled by means of water circulating through pipes '26 and 27. Beyond the hammer there is arranged a conveyer 28. v

Theaction of the apparatus is as follows. The steel is taken from the Martin furnace or converter by means of a ladle 29, rovided with an elongated spout to facilitate the pouring of the liquid metal. When the metal in the ladle has been cleansed the ladle is conveyed to the vessel 1 and its contents are poured into the latter, the vessel having been previously heated by means of a woo fire fed with'compressed air from the cock 8 and pipe 7. The preliminaryheating operation is however only required when start-' ing work; subsequently the successive castings supply the requisite heat. The level of the liquid steel in the vessel 1 must never exceed the level of the top of the dam 14 in the chamber 15, so that metal only flows to the ingot mold when required. Owing to this arrangement of the vessel 1 and chamber 15 the mass of liquid metal in the vessel 1 can at any moment be separated from the metal required to form the in 0t, and the metal is cast with an upward ow, so. that the purity of the in ot is further increased. When the vessel haslieen closed the injurious gases contained in the molten steel are sucked oil. This operation, which has the advantage that it causes the gas bubbles to burst,

.is performed by producing a vacuum with the aid of suitable suction apparatus connected to the orifice 5 of the vessel 1.

Prior to castin an ingot a cast iron stopper 30 is insertef into the mold 18, the said stopper having on one side an eye 31, and on the other a plurality of inter crossing iron bails32 cast in one with the stopper. The joint made b the stopper is hermetically sealed with c ay and a chain 33 is connected to a winch fastened to the eye 31. The cock 8 is then opened to admit a small quantity of compressed air to the vessel 1. This air is caused by the heat to expand, so that its pressure is increased, but the discharge valve 9 does not allow the pressure in the vessel to exceed a certain limit. Under the action of this pressure on the liquid mass, the level of the steel in the chamber 15 is causedto rise above the dam 14, and steel flows into the in ot mold 18. In the latter the steel is imme iately solidified by the cool ing action due to the water circulating through the pipes 19 and 20. The stopper 30 is thus sea ed to the front end of the ingot, and the latter is then drawn through the mold by means of the chain 33. The speed at which the ingot is withdrawn is regulated according to the color and hardness of the steel. 'After issuing from the mold 18 the ingot enters the supplementary mold 21, in which it is acted on by humid vapor at low pressure which enters through the holes 22 andaccelerates the formation. The internal diameter of the mold 21 is slightly larger than that of the ingot, so that the latter does not make contact with the walls, and that the va or can act freely 011 the ingot.

n issuing from the mold 21 the front end of the ingot asses between the two cylinders 23. The ca le 33 is then disengaged, and movement is imparted to the in ot by means 'of the cylinders; the latter may e rotated by 28 to the rolling mill or suitable furnace.

The core of each ingot remains liquid and transmits heat to the external parts, so that there is a recriidescence of heat, as is the case when the metal leaves the furnace.

The purpose of the gate 10 at the rear "of the vessel 1 is to allow of slagging the metal in case, after a number of castings, it is judged desirable to do so notwithstanding the cleansing to which the metal has been subjected inthe ladle. The orifice 13 is used at the end of the operation, for discharging the residual metal in the vessel 1 and conduit 13, in order that the said metal may be used for a subsequent operation. This conduit is cleaned with the aid'of compressed air, by

the same method as adopted in converters.-

The ingot mold 18 is continuously cooled, for the purpose of absorbing heat from the molten steel; it may have a single wall, as shown in Fig. 2, or a composite wall as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Which ever type is adopted the mold is provided with a pipe 35 serving for the circulation 'of water and forming a coil coaxial with the mold. This coil consists of iron or drawn copper and is so embedded in the mass of which the mold consists that the water does not come into contact with the melted steel if the ingot mold cracks 01' become worn. The construction shown in Fig. 2 is carried out in cast iron or bronze. The construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4: comprises an envelo of sheet steel or copper inclosing a mass 0 tin, lead or anti mony in which is located the circulation coil. These metals having low melting points melt if the cooling is not sufliciently energetic, and thus give warning so that accidents may be avoided. The melting of the said metals can be seen through the observation aperture 36 (Fig. 3). At the orifice through which the water passes from the mold apparatus such as thermo-meter, water-meter, etc., is preferably arranged to facilitate the control of the operations.

The length-of the ingots may be measured or the out-put may be automatically controlled, by means of the apparatus actuated bythe worm gear 24.

In carrying the invention intopractical effect a second vessel, similar to the vessel, 1, may be used and connected by another conduit 12 to the chamber 15, so that one casting vessel is always available for use.

The cooling water circulating in the wall of the mold 18 is preferably under pressure, so that a maximum of heat may be absorbed by a given quantity of water, the temperature of the water being raised to boiling point.

The mold 18 may be fixed to the chamber 15 by means of bolts, so that it can be exchanged for another of different section by having a flange or the like of the samediameter.

The conveyer rollers 23 may be hollow and cooled by water entering them through their axles.

The vessel 1 may be provided with a naphtha blower which can be fed with air from' the compressed air pipe and used if it is judged necessary to reheat the mass of steel What I claim is: a

1. In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal, an ingot mold placed substantially at the normal level; of the molten metal in said vessel, means for causingthe molten metal toflow into the ingot mold, means for drawing or forcing the metal from the mold as it solidifies and means for solidifying the ingot while cutting the same after issuing from the mold.

In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal, an ascending conduit provided at the lower part of said vessel, a water cooled ingot mold connected to said ascending conduit, the said ingot mold being substantially at the normal level of the molten metal in the vessel, means for causing the molten metal to flow into the ingot mold, means for' drawing or forcing the metal from the mold as it solidifies and means for solidifying the ingot while cutting the same after issuing from the mold.

3. In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal, a cover adapted to close said vessel, a pipe connected to said vessel for the introduction of compressed air in said vessel, an ascending conduit in communication with the lower part of the vessel, :1 regulating chamber connected to said ascending conduit,'a, dam placedin said chamber, a water cooled ingot mold connected to said chamber, said ingot mold being substantially at the normal level of the molten metal in the vessel, means adapted to be inserted into the mold for drawing the ingot through the mold, and means for solidifying the ingot while cutting the same after issuing from the mold.

4. In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal, an ingot mold placed substantially at the normal level of the charge of molten metal in said vessel, a connection between said mold and the lower part of the vessel, whereby the molten metal can only reach the mold when acted u on by a pressure in the vessel, means f dr drawing the ingot through the mold and a water cooled hammer for cutting the ingot when issuing from the mold.

In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal, a water cooled ingot mold comprising a mass of metal having low melting point. said mold being placed substantially at the .normal level of the charge of, molten metal in the vessel, a

connection between said mold and the'lower part ofthe vessel, whereby the molten metal can only reach the mold when acted upon by a pressure in the vessel means for drawing the ingot through the mold and a water cooled hammer for cutting the ingot when issuing from the mold.

6. In combination a vessel adapted to contain a charge of molten metal,a water cooled ingot mold comprising a mass of metal hav- In testimony whereof I have signed my ing a low melting point, means for .estabname to this specification in the presence of lishing communication between said mold two subscribing witnesses.

and the vessel, whereby the molten metal MATH. DOUTEUR. can reach the mold, means for drawing the WVitnesses: ingot through the mold, and means for cut- J. S'r. CLAIRFARALLI,

ting the ingot when issuing from the mold. D. PAPIACHI. 

